That night, the Lu residence was brightly lit.
Raindrops trickled down from the treetops after the rain, falling in a steady rhythm, while water droplets clung to the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

The grand hall was opulently decorated, with the golden dome light in the central courtyard shining brilliantly. A porcelain white vase with long neck held upright daffodils on the European-style dining table.

Jiang Yi sat on the sofa in the grand hall with his father, half-understanding, and asked, “Dad, so Little Bobby does have a home, right?”
Jiang’s father, looking a bit anxious, patted Jiang Yi’s head and said, “Yes, he’s the son of Daddy’s boss…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a man walked down the stairs in the grand hall. He was in his late thirties, with a stern expression, but he looked tired.

Seeing the man, Jiang’s father quickly stood up and said, “Mr. Lu, how is the young master?”
Lu Ting’s expression relaxed a bit as he said warmly, “He’s fine now. The doctor said it’s a good thing he wasn’t out in the rain for too long; hypothermia could have been much more serious.”
“This time, it’s all thanks to your son.”

Upon hearing that the Lu family’s beloved young master was alright, Jiang’s father breathed a sigh of relief and quickly waved his hand, saying, “You’re too kind. There’s no need for such formalities…”
Lu Ting smiled slightly. He bent down a little to make eye contact with Jiang Yi, who was sitting on the sofa.
The air conditioning in the grand hall was set to a low temperature, and the black-haired child on the sofa had an adult’s coat draped over his shoulders. The coat was too big, the empty sleeves almost engulfing his whole body.

He looked much younger than six years, frail and delicate, with soft black hair that was slightly messy across his pale forehead. His black eyes were wide and innocent, framed by long, delicate lashes. His lips were pale, adding to his quiet, pretty appearance.
Looking at Jiang Yi, Lu Ting suddenly understood what his son Arno meant by calling him a doll.

He gazed at Jiang Yi and softened his voice, “Little one, Uncle wants to thank you today.”
“If it weren’t for you, Uncle’s child might have gotten very sick.”
Jiang Yi shyly shook his head. He wasn’t used to seeing adults other than his father, so he clutched the hem of his father’s coat without saying a word.

Lu Ting squatted down to be at eye level with him and gently said, “Uncle has another favor to ask, is that okay?”
“My child’s name is Arno. He grew up abroad and just recently came back to China, so he’s not very familiar with things here. He also doesn’t want to take his medicine.”
“But Uncle heard Arno say that you’re very nice.”
“Could you do Uncle a favor and go upstairs to keep Arno company for a little while?”

Jiang Yi widened his eyes slightly and hesitated for a long time. After seeking his father’s approval, he finally nodded in agreement.
Lu Ting smiled and beckoned to a servant nearby to lead Jiang Yi upstairs to find Arno.

Jiang’s father sat tensely on the sofa, his expression worried as he watched Jiang Yi’s back as he went upstairs.

He had heard people say before that Mr. Lu’s son had a bad temper.
And Jiang Yi had always been frail compared to other children his age, so if that bad-tempered young master lost his temper, bullying Jiang Yi would be all too easy.

Noticing Jiang’s father’s concern, Lu Ting personally poured him some tea, reassuring him as they discussed other matters.

——

Upstairs.

Jiang Yi held the servant’s hand and followed the butler to a tightly closed door of a bedroom painted in London brown.
The butler knocked on the bedroom door and softly spoke in English, “Young Master, your friend is here.”
A listless voice responded from behind the door.

“Go away, I have no friends.”

But after a moment, the voice suddenly fell silent, as if something had just occurred to him. Suddenly, there was the sound of someone jumping off the bed.

The footsteps were quick, and the sound of them hitting the wooden floor echoed with a “thud, thud.”

Arno, dressed in pajamas, ran out of the room, opened the door, and saw Jiang Yi standing there.
Jiang Yi also saw the boy at the door, dressed in pajamas, his face a bit pale, his expression still haughty, but his blue eyes suddenly lit up when he looked at him.
He had run out so quickly that he didn’t even have time to put on shoes, standing barefoot with a fever patch on his forehead, staring at Jiang Yi without blinking.

The butler crouched down and told Arno that he had to take his medicine before he could play with Jiang Yi.
Arno frowned at first, but then he picked up the medicine bowl and gulped it down.
The butler was surprised, not expecting it to be so easy to get Arno to take his medicine.

Arno licked his lips, still remembering the chess game from that afternoon, and asked Jiang Yi, “Shall we continue?”
The butler translated Arno’s words to Jiang Yi, who nodded in agreement.
Arno immediately reached out to take Jiang Yi’s hand, leading him into the bedroom.
Halfway there, Arno even ran back to close the bedroom door. Before closing it completely, he peeked out and warned the butler, “Don’t come in.”

The butler sighed and replied in English, “If you don’t let me in, your friend won’t understand what you’re saying.”
How could two children, one who only spoke English and the other who only spoke Chinese, possibly play together?

Before the butler could finish speaking, Arno had already shut the door.

Inside the bedroom, Jiang Yi sat on the sofa, looking at Arno with a mix of sympathy and comfort, saying, “Actually, I also hate taking medicine.”
“But my dad says you have to take medicine to get better quickly.”
Arno sat on the carpet in silence, just staring at him.

Jiang Yi swung his legs and continued, “I used to have to take a lot of medicine too.”
“But my health is much better now than it used to be.”
Before, he could only watch other kids play outside the window. Sometimes he was even afraid of the wind, so the window couldn’t be opened, and he couldn’t hear the sound of laughter.
Finally, like a little adult, Jiang Yi seriously concluded, “So you need to take your medicine on time too.”
Although Arno didn’t understand what Jiang Yi was saying, he seemed to have mentally separated Jiang Yi from the people in the Lu family and didn’t mind Jiang Yi talking to him so much. He quietly sat on the carpet, listening to him speak.

When Jiang Yi finished, Arno asked if he could play chess with him. Jiang Yi nodded in agreement.
As time passed, the clock in the large bedroom gradually ticked toward bedtime. Jiang Yi sat on the carpet, starting to feel sleepy, and looked towards the bedroom door.

His health had never been great, so this was about the time he usually went to bed.
Jiang Yi moved a chess piece and said to Arno, who was sitting with his chin propped up in one hand, “I want to go home.”
Excited, Arno didn’t understand and tilted his head to look at Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi pointed to the bedroom door and mimicked the motion of going out.

Arno thought he needed to use the bathroom and led him to the en suite in the bedroom.
Jiang Yi looked confusedly at the bright, well-lit bathroom and then turned to look at Arno beside him.

After a while, Jiang Yi pulled his hand away from Arno’s and headed toward the bedroom door.
At first, Arno didn’t realize what was going on, but when he saw Jiang Yi walking toward the door, he realized that Jiang Yi might want to go home.

Arno immediately ran in front of Jiang Yi, instinctively saying in English that he couldn’t leave.
He didn’t want Jiang Yi to leave so soon.
At the Lu residence, Arno would rather stay alone in his room with the door shut than go out to watch TV, play games, or talk to anyone. It was his way of expressing his resistance.

He hadn’t had someone to play with in a long time, like today.
Jiang Yi still tried to walk forward, but Arno stubbornly blocked his way in front of the door.
Arno kept repeating that he couldn’t leave.
Jiang Yi pursed his lips but still spoke to Arno patiently.

Arno was at least half a head taller than him, and his light blue eyes looked down at Jiang Yi. His expression was naturally fierce, and with his face tense, staring at Jiang Yi made him look even more intimidating.

Two minutes later, the sound of crying came from the bedroom.
The butler, who was waiting outside the door, heard it and quickly knocked, asking in English, “Young Master, what’s wrong?”
Inside the bedroom, Arno was scared out of his wits. He fumbled clumsily to wipe Jiang Yi’s tears, apologizing frantically in English.

Jiang Yi’s eyes were filled with large teardrops, rolling down his cheeks as

he cried, his face red with distress. He whimpered through his tears, “I want to go home…”
He cried so heartbreakingly, not understanding why the boy in front of him wouldn’t let him go back to find his dad. He was scared that if he stayed upstairs too long, his father might leave without him. The fear and sadness overwhelmed him.

Arno, unable to understand Chinese, could only watch as Jiang Yi cried harder and harder. He panicked, struggling to think of the few Chinese words he knew. In his desperation, he remembered something and clumsily repeated the word he had heard before, “B-bao…bei…”

Arno recalled hearing his grandparents call him this word over video calls as a term of endearment. Surely, this was the right word to use now.

But instead of calming down, Jiang Yi was startled. His tears momentarily halted as he blinked up at Arno in confusion, then his crying intensified. He was bewildered as to why this blue-eyed boy was calling him “baby” and not letting him go home.

Seeing that calling him “baobei” wasn’t working, Arno grew even more anxious. He began to sweat as he frantically searched his memory for more Chinese words. In his haste, he blurted out the only other phrase he could think of: “Gong xi fa cai!” (“Wishing you prosperity!”)

Arno remembered that every time he said this phrase, people around him would be very happy and even give him red envelopes. This had to be a good phrase, right?

However, upon hearing “Gong xi fa cai,” Jiang Yi only cried louder. The phrase, typically used during festive occasions like the Chinese New Year, made absolutely no sense in this situation and only added to Jiang Yi’s distress.

Standing outside the bedroom door, the butler knocked several times, but there was no response. Panicking, he quickly rushed downstairs to inform Lu Ting.

Downstairs, Lu Ting was sitting on the sofa, chatting with Jiang’s father.
As time went on, Jiang’s father grew more and more anxious about Jiang Yi’s situation upstairs. Even though he tried to make small talk, his concern was evident as he kept glancing towards the stairs.

Lu Ting noticed Jiang’s father’s worry and reassured him, “Arno may have a bit of a temper, but he really likes Jiang Yi.”
He tried to assure Jiang’s father that Arno wouldn’t bully Jiang Yi, though he couldn’t help but sigh with a trace of self-deprecation, saying, “Honestly, it’s my fault as his father. I’ve been so busy all these years, I didn’t spend much time with Arno even when I went abroad to visit him.”
“By the time I realized something was wrong, Arno and I had already grown distant.”
“Especially after I brought Arno back to China, he’s barely spoken to me. But just a little while ago, even with his fever, he was talking a lot about Jiang Yi…”

Jiang’s father, also a parent, felt a deep sympathy as he listened, and couldn’t help but emotionally remark, “The young master is a good child. He understands your good intentions…”

Before Jiang’s father could finish his sentence, the butler hurried down the stairs, leaning down to whisper something in Lu Ting’s ear.

Lu Ting froze for a moment, his expression turning serious.
Before he could say anything to Jiang’s father, the sound of crying echoed from upstairs.

Jiang’s father leapt to his feet in panic, “What’s going on up there?”
The butler, now looking a bit nervous, cautiously replied, “I’m not exactly sure. It seems like the young master said something, and the little one started crying…”
And it wasn’t just light crying—it sounded like the kind of crying where the child was getting more and more upset.

Lu Ting took a deep breath, pressing his hand to his forehead, “What did he say?”
The butler hesitated, his voice growing smaller as he replied, “It sounded like something about ‘baobei’ and ‘gong xi fa cai’?”

Lu Ting: “…”
Jiang’s father, now thoroughly alarmed: “???”